Oliver Bonas

The thing with Oliver Bonas is that you can’t stop loving their stuff as the variety of products they sell is amazing. You can find everything you need for a present (or yourself) from baby clothes to books, jewellery, sleepwear or furniture!
I usually like to wander inside the shops, looking at the displays and every now and them, indulging myself with a guilty pleasure, so when I visited this branch with my family, I was expecting more of the same: lovely things and attentive customer service.
The thing with this one Oliver Bonas in particular is the customer service. When I have visited some of the other shops, everyone seems happy to help, but not here! There were 3 members of staff in sight, two chatting behind the till in another language and one running around counting the displays. No greetings, no acknowledge of us or the other customer, who seemed very interested in the jewellery cabinet and was trying to gain their attention.
We didn’t really need anything, we were merely browsing, killing time, but we left very disappointed with the staff. A simple hello would have been nice!

I just couldn’t stop spending money here in the run up to Christmas! It’s my go-​to place for last minute pressies all year round, being a convenient stone’s throw from my office. Xmas was particularly hectic as there isn’t a lot of room to manœuvre inside this branch (and shelves of beautiful but breakable things!) but usually it’s the perfect place for a quick browse at lunchtime to clear my head.
It’s unlikely you’d visit for something specific given the breadth of what they stock. There’s so many cute things in here I’m sure you’d covet as much as I do though. The women’s clothing isn’t really me but I do like the accessories, and there’s always something interesting to flick through in the books section. Plenty of fun homeware too — I found a quirky water jug with a hole through the middle on my last visit that made a great present for my mum.
Good luck resisting buying the whole shop — sadly it’s not exactly cheap which keeps me in check! Perfect stop for presents or hey, just treat yourself :)

Lovely little shop with lots of different ‘stuff’. What os confusing for me is, they don’t seem to specialise in anything… Here is toys, woman clothing and gift items. Almost like a charity shop, just everything new?
The layout is confusing and the staff not particularly friendly.

I recently visited this branch again — last Tuesday and a month ago — and both visits were pleasant mainly thanks to the staff and their wonderful customer service so I felt I needed to give another shout out to the store!
Keep up the good work!

After my critique of the store on Bankside it was brought to my attention that I should give you low down on my favourite Oliver Bonas store.
Just across the river, the store in One new Change sells a great range of cards, books, house wares and accessories. It’s a smallish shop but it seems better than the other branches because I always find something I want to buy.
The staff are well worth the five star rating I’m giving this branch. Every time I go they’re keen to help when I need it. Whether you can’t decide which necklace to buy a friend — do you stay true to their style or challenge preconceptions? — or looking for the perfect new handbag; they’re always happy to advise. The gift wrapping is fab too — they use glitter!

How cute is Oliver Bonas?! Clearly I’m late to the party but I was in love once I finally discovered this shop/​chain.
I browsed for a good 20mins while waiting for a friend, and could easily have bought half the shop!
I restrained myself though, and bought just a pair of oversize black butterfly earrings. They are easily my favourite bit of junk jewellery I’ve bought all year! :D
Must not come back for a while — but if I win the lottery… ;)